Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — Mayor Karen Bass announced Brian Sonia-Wallace as Los Angeles’ poet laureate, naming a nationally recognized writer known for creating spontaneous poems on a vintage typewriter.
Sonia-Wallace will serve a one-year term as a cultural ambassador for the city, promoting poetry and expanding access to the arts through public programming and community engagement, officials said.
“Poetry belongs to every Angeleno, and Brian Sonia-Wallace has a remarkable gift for bringing people together through its power,” Bass said in a statement. “I am proud to name him our next poet laureate and look forward to the inspiration and connection he will foster across the many communities that make up our great city.”
Sonia-Wallace was born in St. Louis but raised in Culver City and Santiago, Chile. He was poet laureate of West Hollywood from 2020 to 2022.
He curates an LGBT poetry column foe The Pride LA and teaches creative writing through UCLA Writers’ Extension and Get Lit — Words Ignite.
Sonia-Wallace said he hopes to expand the role of poetry across the city.
L.A. is full of poets,” Sonia-Wallace said. “Why shouldn’t every coffee shop and bookstore have a poet-in-residence? There’s the possibility in this role to create a blueprint for that enduring ecosystem.”
The poet laureate program, established in 2012 as a collaboration between the Los Angeles Public Library and the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, is intended to promote civic dialogue and highlight the city’s literary culture.
“The poet laureate plays a vital role in connecting Angelenos to literature and to one another,” City Librarian John F. Szabo said. “We’re thrilled to welcome Brian Sonia-Wallace, whose innovative approach to poetry meets people where they are and invites them into the creative process.”
Sonia-Wallace was selected through a competitive, citywide process and succeeds past honorees including Eloise Klein Healy, Luis J. Rodriguez, Robin Coste Lewis and Lynne Thompson.
Officials said the announcement coincides with National Poetry Month, which is observed annually in April.
“Brian Sonia-Wallace is an acclaimed poet and cultural worker who has an inspiring ability to bring poetry into the public square,” said Daniel Tarica, general manager of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs. “Sonia- Wallace’s work connects us through our shared humanity, and with his commitment to intercultural exchange, environmental and social justice, and LGBT rights, Sonia-Wallace will bring a voice and vision to Angelenos that connects communities through a shared love of poetry.
“With Los Angeles’ next poet laureate in place, we look forward to celebrating the city’s rich history of poetry together.”
